Chapter 368: The Awakener (2)
“……”
Lennok, who had been blankly looking around, quickly rummaged through his memories while checking his body.
He remembered the three of them passing through the gate almost simultaneously, just before entering it.
Despite his efforts to be the first through the gate, burning his body and mind, as well as his insufficient mana, there was no sign of anyone else around Lennok.
“Am I late…?”
A monologue escaped Lennok’s lips as he belatedly grasped the situation.
Among the three who had sprinted towards the gate, Lennok was undoubtedly the one with the least physical prowess.
If he was the only one left here, wouldn’t the others have long since come to their senses and headed towards The Cradle?
Feeling a surge of negative thoughts, Lennok struggled to support himself on his knees and stood up.
‘I can’t give up.’
Even if it wasn’t Maiya, given Jawoon’s nature, he wouldn’t just leave an unconscious Lennok behind.
There was also a high possibility that the three people who entered the gate were dropped in different locations.
“The monocular… it’s useless.”
Lennok sighed softly as he brought the monocular he pulled from his pocket to his eye.
The monocular’s function was specialized in locating the mana its user was aware of.
Until now, it had shown Jindun’s form, creating an unknown synergy with Lennok’s mystic eyes, but in this space, densely filled with the Ascendant’s mana, it could do nothing.
Lennok had no choice but to put away the monocular and began to walk forward aimlessly.
Splish, splash!
With each step, water splashing up to his ankles echoed softly.
Lennok slowly walked through the endless white space, checking his condition, until he realized something.
“…Davi?”
He realized that the electro-spirit, who always slept in his arms, was nowhere to be seen.
Davi’s existence had been reverse-summoned the moment they crossed into the gate.
Considering that Davi generally preferred to be summoned, it certainly wasn’t her own will.
Had his senses become so dull that he couldn’t even properly perceive the presence of a spirit?
Knowing his condition was far from normal, Lennok began to piece together various thoughts to somehow regain his focus.
‘The after-effects of mana poisoning have definitely decreased significantly… It feels almost by half. In reality, the lingering effects must have been reduced even more than that.’
Was it because he had consistently taken the pill diagnosed by Yakson Yanushika Greenway and meticulously managed his condition?
Even after rotating mana so intensely throughout his body while sprinting towards the gate, Lennok could still move.
Of course, a sharp pain, like countless needles pricking his entire body, accompanied each step, but the mere fact that his two legs could move was utterly foreign to Lennok.
Yakson’s diagnosis, which stated that instead of completely eliminating the after-effects of mana poisoning, the risk would be gradually dispersed, was truly accurate.
A method that reduced the impact without touching the essence of the penalty.
It was because of such intuition and deep understanding of patients that, conversely, she met a tragic end at the hands of those who coveted her abilities.
‘My mana has recovered quite a lot too. I’m not in a state where I can’t fight. Is it because the mana concentration in The Cradle is unbelievably dense?’
True to its name, the Ascendant’s Cradle, the mana filling this space was so immense that Lennok couldn’t properly grasp it.
Its mere influence was enough to rapidly increase the mana recovery speed of Lennok and others who entered this space.
‘Maiya and Jawoon. They seemed to know each other… Did they meet once before entering the labyrinth?’
Even while constantly thinking about the other competitors, Lennok did not rush his steps.
Not only was the end of this space not easily visible, but there was also no effective way left to move quickly in the first place.
For Lennok, who had lost his bike, the only remaining mobility was Translocation, which consumed about 40% of his mana at once.
The travel distance was only a few meters, making it practically meaningless considering it was a spell used for combat, not movement.
There was a reason Lennok didn’t use various magic right before the gate and instead moved his body.
Though he couldn’t help but feel rushed, impulsively using physical enhancement with mana here would only worsen the effects of his poisoning.
Hoooooo…
A faint melody resonated above Lennok’s head as he was lost in thought.
Lennok spun his head and unhesitatingly changed direction towards the source of the sound.
He was moving forward aimlessly, unable to distinguish front from back, left from right. If he could find any kind of trace like this, it was enough.
A heavy pulse, similar to a horn. It felt like sweet music resonating deep within his chest.
He didn’t know much about music, but he walked in the direction of the sound, repeating the rhythm in his mind to remember it.
After walking for a considerable time, Lennok successfully located the source of the sound and furrowed his brow.
“This is…”
What appeared through the faint mist was a massive cylinder, seemingly carved from white stone.
Dozens of such pillars were embedded throughout this vast, misty expanse.
Between the pillars, spaced at regular intervals, a heavy horn-like sound echoed overhead.
Lennok’s gaze instinctively drifted upwards, where the melody emerged and faded, then returned to the pillars.
His eyes calmly settled as he meticulously observed the surface of the pillars.
“The faint cracks on the surface allow the wind to pass through, creating sound. They were made to produce a consistent tone regardless of wind direction.”
It wasn’t something a single pillar could accomplish. They were likely designed with dozens of pillars precisely arranged to create harmony.
Such a clear, purposeful arrangement indicated that these were by no means naturally formed objects.
If Davi were here, she would record the pattern, apply an algorithm, and interpret it, but he was not in a position to do so now.
Even if it took some time, Lennok had no choice but to record and analyze the pattern himself.
The moment Lennok carefully gathered his mana with that thought.
A dazzling burst of multi-colored magical light erupted right beside him, and an explosion swallowed his body.
CRACK!
The horn sound that had echoed in the quiet space was instantly buried by the blast, and the roar echoed repeatedly, spreading beyond the white space.
Water, reaching his ankles, spread in all directions, creating incessantly overlapping ripples.
Lennok, having identified the owner of the mana through the shattered shield, scattered icy eyes.
“Jawoon…”
“It’s tiresome, isn’t it?”
Jawoon, whose thick robe was gone and who was wearing only a single shirt, his face haggard, chuckled.
Brushing back his long, disheveled hair, he sneered at Lennok.
“If you heard the sound of the Changyoseok, I knew you’d come this way. You’re not so unobserving, after all.”
“Changyoseok? You mean these stone pillars?”
Even though it took the full impact of Jawoon’s gem spell head-on, the stone pillar remained unscathed.
Its considerable durability already suggested it wasn’t an ordinary object, but he hadn’t expected it to have a specific name.
Jawoon chuckled at Lennok’s words and replied,
“They are, literally, singing stones. Because they contain the wind and produce tones that cannot be created artificially, they are objects of high magical value.”
“……”
“Their rarity also makes their price incredibly high. I never imagined Jindun had so many Changyoseok hoarded. And to think he’s incorporating the very melodies of the Changyoseok into his barrier magic…”
Jawoon muttered, a hint of admiration in his voice.
“Does that mean the framework and standards of spells mean nothing to an Ascendant? To imbue regular, repetitive sounds with meaning and transform them into such high-level barrier magic, I can’t even begin to guess the principle.”
“So, the music is being used as part of a barrier spell.”
Lennok’s expression hardened as he instantly grasped the meaning of Jawoon’s words.
“As expected… you know too much about this labyrinth.”
“Of course I do. Otherwise, would I have dared to come into Jindun’s core while sane?”
Jawoon smirked, fidgeting with his sleeve, and replied,
“Only strange ones like you and Maiya struggle to meet Jindun, whose whereabouts are unknown. Most of those who crawl into this labyrinth are only interested in the crumbs that might fall from an Ascendant’s remains.”
“……”
“What do you want to talk about with an Ascendant? You don’t seriously think he’ll bestow some teachings upon you, do you?”
Jawoon stretched his lips into a long, mocking grin, scoffing at Lennok.
But Lennok simply stared at Jawoon and abruptly spoke.
“You talk too much.”
“…What?”
“You haven’t pinpointed Maiya’s location. You also aren’t confident enough to escape alone after separating me from her in this situation. You knew provocative words were meaningless, yet you attacked me first and revealed yourself…”
Jawoon’s behavior, at first glance, seemed relaxed and composed, but upon closer inspection, there were inconsistencies.
Lennok, despite his impaired judgment, instantly grasped the unnaturalness and sharply turned his head towards the long line of pillars behind him.
“There’s something to the Changyoseok. The path to The Cradle exists behind them. No, to be precise…”
Within the barrier magic reconfigured inside The Cradle by the melodies of the Changyoseok.
That’s where Jindun sleeps.
As soon as Lennok realized that fact, he channeled mana with all his might, raising a massive ice barrier before him.
It was his unique ice-based magic spell.
[Clear Prison Ward]
Rumble!
Almost simultaneously, three gems resonated and unleashed rock fists that struck the frozen barrier, formed by the water beneath his feet.
Jawoon had suddenly unleashed his gem spells and attacked again, without even waiting for Lennok to finish speaking.
CRASH!
The impact caused the air in the area to tremble, shattering the barrier and scattering ice fragments.
“You rotten bastard.”
Through the shimmering ice shards, Jawoon’s face twisted into a murderous smile.
That expression alone was a sign that Lennok had hit the mark.
“I should have just killed you then, instead of offering cooperation. My mistake.”
“Only now?”
Lennok chuckled.
“I was clearly willing to make a deal with you. You were the one who kept hiding and avoiding a deal.”
“A deal, my ass! You were secretly following me around, trying to get ahead whenever you had a chance…!!”
Shimmer!
Jawoon, gripping eight gems between his fingers, channeled mana with all his might.
“If you think about it, my plans got messed up all because of you. I’ll blow that thieving head of yours right here and now.”
“Thief, huh… Not something I want to hear from a terrorist.”
Lennok smiled wryly, staring intently at the dazzling radiance of the gems.
Jawoon glared at Lennok, crossing his arms, which held the gems.
“Die!”
[Moonstone: Spirit Summoning]
[Smoky Quartz: Multi-Light Projection]
The gems on both index fingers shot up and exploded, transforming into two birds wreathed in blue flames.
Four split gems, on his middle and ring fingers, floated around Jawoon, each scattering different waves.
The remaining two gems rotated vertically and exploded, and dozens of lasers, bursting forth, curved and began targeting Lennok from all directions.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Lasers slammed into Lennok’s surroundings, releasing heat, and the two birds flying in the sky flapped their wings, dropping dozens of flames from above.
Jawoon, who had fearlessly plunged into the barrage of bombardments aimed simultaneously at one person, grabbed the gem floating to his right and swung it directly at Lennok.
[Jasper: Quadruple Descent]
CRASH!
Shattering the remaining half-broken ice barrier, [Clear Prison Ward], what emerged was the enormous form of a wolf covering Jawoon’s arm.
Lennok watched it from beyond his shattered shield, slightly admiring it.
“He can even reach summoning magic? Even if it’s mediated by expensive gems, it’s quite impressive. Though it crosses disciplines, it should fundamentally be impossible without knowledge of other spell systems.”
“Yes. Keep rambling on.”
[Sunstone: Triple Descent]
Jawoon, with a chilling smile, gripped the gem floating on his left with his other hand, and the form of a deer emerged.
“Until I rip your spine out alive, you idiot bastard!”
THUD!
An elliptical shockwave spread out from the two of them.
The power contained within it was so intense that distortion occurred between the manifestation and release of the force.
“I thought it would come to this someday.”
But Lennok, in that fleeting moment, summoned a new chitin shield, withstood Jawoon’s third offensive, and nodded.
“If anything, it’s a bit late.”
“DIIIIE!”
A calm confession and desperate yell overlapped, and the mana wielded by the two sorcerers resonated, merging.
Ice fragments, carried by the swirling wind, instantly swelled in size, transforming into a ferocious blizzard.
Summoned creatures swung from Jawoon’s hands, and summoned entities rotating from all directions unleashed a fierce onslaught, sweeping across the battlefield.
ROOOOOOAR!
The roar was like an incessant, surging tide. The intensity of the mana unleashed by the two was by no means inferior.
The mana, drawn forth, split into dozens, hundreds of strands, freezing and exploding, transforming into a raging heat, and the flashing magical light from all directions, riding on various attributes, twisted into diverse spells, plunging diagonally, disorienting the sight.
THUD-THUD-THUD!
Jawoon’s fierce assault involved both direct, close-quarters combat and an incessant barrage unleashed by his summoned creatures.
His mastery of spells and martial arts, embodying both vanguard and rear-guard roles single-handedly, was something Lennok couldn’t underestimate.
However, Lennok, instead of retreating from the murderous offensive, plunged forward fearlessly.
Screech!
He absorbed the immense destructive power of the summoned being layered onto Jawoon’s close-quarters combat with his chitin shield, channeling the impact directly into the ground.
[Ice White Pillar: Horned Radiance]
He seized the surging water below his ankles, twisting it into a colossal pillar of ice.
[Seize Roaring Fire Battle]
He snatched the flames pouring from above, usurping their authority and detonating them through resonance.
[Purple Chain Restraint]
Purple chains erupted from beneath his feet, grappling Jawoon’s limbs and pulling him down.
Whirrrrrr!
Lethal and precisely operating magic, potent even when used by a single person, was swiftly assembled and spun in Lennok’s hands.
Almost simultaneously, with a single, synchronized breath, all were manifested, scattering dazzling waves of triple-attribute energy in all directions around the wizard.
Dozens of enormous ice horn-pillars simultaneously shot up from the center of the pillar zone made of Changyoseok.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Azure flames burst forth between the frozen water pillars, and purple chains spun wildly.